Karen Filippelli
Played by: Rashida Leah Jones
Job: Salesman/ Regional Manager
Character Rating: 6.5
Karen Filippelli could possibly be one of the most controversial characters in the show. We do not meet Karen along with the rest of the gang in the first two seasons. Karen becomes of of the transfer salesman from the Stanford, where Andy came from. Before the merge of the two branches, Jim and Karen slowly become close during their time together at work, and a relationship starts to blossom. Once again, we will be discussing Karen in the same format as before: her personal life, professional life, and her character rating.
Karen in her personal life is actually similar to Pam in a few aspects. She is good looking, fun, and has a good head on her shoulders. The two of them actually become friends for a few episodes. However, the quarrel comes from Karen's relationship with Jim. About a quarter of the way through the third season, Karen and Jim start dating. This makes Pam a little jealous and envious of Karen, and when Karen becomes aware of Pam and Jim's past experiences, she becomes a little weary of Pam too. As far as the Jim and Karen relationship is concerned, there were a few instances where Jim and Karen argued, but for a majority of the season, they got along fine. However, when the time came at the end of the season for Jim to choose, he chose Pam instead of Karen.
Professionally, Karen was a determined businesswoman. She dressed in a women's suit every day to work, showing her professionalism. She is committed to her job, and she dresses for the job she wants, and not the job she has. She applies for the cooperate job with Jim near the end of the season. Though she does not get the job and transfers out because of Jim and Pam's new relationship, she does earn the spot of regional manager at a different branch. From there, she has a cameo appearance a few more times throughout the series, but she probably gets a grand total of 30 minutes of screen time after she leaves the show as a lead character.
I personally did not have too much of a problem with Karen. She was a good character, and I honestly could have seen her spending a long time with Jim had it not been for Pam. Karen really did not do anything necessarily wrong to make herself a villain. She did, however, lose favor with many fans when she insults Pam in one of her last camera interviews before going to New York (and true fans know what she said). The true reason that she did not fit in with the show is because she was not Pam. The show made it almost blatantly clear that Jim and Pam belonged together no matter how log the fans had to wait to see it. Karen was at the wrong place at the wrong time. With this being said, her treatment of Pam is inexcusable to many fans, including me. Other than this point, I cannot fault her, but because it is such a heavy sin that she committed in the eyes of fans, myself included, she earned 6.5 as her character rating.
What say you? Did I judge Karen too harshly? Did I not judge enough? Comment below and share your thoughts. Also, if you have any other remarks, such as whether Jim and Karen should have remained together or how Karen a better or worse character than I described, share a comment about that too.
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